Our work is on gene expression in eukaryotic organisms and the mechanisms which control this expression. We are attacking this in three separate projects. In one project we are attempting to isolate the histone gene cluster of the DNA of sea urchin sperm in sufficient amounts to be used for in vitro transcription experiments. We are doing this without using recombinant DNA technology to be sure that we have the DNA as it is in the cell without any cloning artifacts. In a second project, we are isolating the poly(A) ion-mRNA of the sea urchin egg in order to study the proteins for which this mRNA is the template. The mRNAs will be translated in the wheat germ system. We are particularly interested in the mRNAs for tubulin, actin and other major non-histone proteins necessary for the nuclear divisions occurring during the cleavage stages following fertilization of the sea urchin egg. In the third project we are sequencing the portion of mRNAs directly adjacent to the poly(A) tract, the portion which is the 3' end of the mRNAs and contains what appears to be the common signal for termination of transcription.